Shandong Electricity Cuts to Power the Olympics

Today’s Yantai Evening News, a local newspaper based in Yantai, Shandong Province, ran a top headline “electricity will be limited to factories during the Olympic Games” followed by a subhead “Neon lights and advertisement lights will be turned off”. According to the newspaper, from August 8 to August 25, all big power consumers including steel plants, mines (except for coal mines), cement mills and chemical factories will suspend production; half of all street lamps will be turned off; air con thermostats in shopping mall, hotels, offices will be kept above 26 °C.

A vice president of Yantai Electricity Supply Company said in the article that “industrial use of electricity will be cut down further to make sure that people will be able to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games at home.”